Philosophical Correspondence

Author: Voltaire
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: Voltaire was born in 1694 in a middle-class family in Paris, with his father being a lawyer. During his youth, he attended the Collège Louis-le-Grand, founded by the Jesuits, and later studied law for a period but soon abandoned it. As a young man in Paris, he quickly became renowned: he was sharp-witted, humorous, and turned everything he said or wrote into verse. However, under the Old Regime in France, such talent could bring danger. Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille for writing political verse. He spent nearly a year in confinement during which he composed the epic poem "Henriette," which later received widespread acclaim. Soon after his release in 1718, his play "Oedipus" premiered in Paris and achieved great success. By the age of twenty-four, Voltaire was already famous, and for the rest of his sixty years, he was a leading figure in French literature. Voltaire was not only a master of language but also adept at making money, eventually becoming a wealthy man on his own. However, in 1762, he ran into trouble. Voltaire had become one of his time’s mostperceptive andrenowned orators (perhaps timeless), but some French aristocrats believed he lacked the humility expected of the common people. This led to an open debate between Voltaire and a nobleman, the Chevalier de Rohan, in which Voltaire outsmarted his opponent in a verbal duel, leaving him speechless and humiliated. Yet soon after, the knight incited a gang to violently attack Voltaire and later had him imprisoned in the Bastille again. Voltaire agreed to leave France and was soon released. As a result, he went to England and stayed there for about two and a half years. Voltaire’s life in England was a major turning point in his life. He learned English and read extensively the works of prominent British figures such as John Locke, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and William Shakespeare. He also met most of the leading British thinkers of the time. Shakespeare and British science and empiricism left a deep impression on Voltaire, with his most profound interest being the British political system. The democracy and individual freedom in Britain stood in stark contrast to the political situation Voltaire knew in France. No British noble could issue a decree to swiftly imprison Voltaire. If detained unjustly, a writ of habeas corpus would immediately release him. Voltaire returned to France and wrote his major philosophical work, Letters on the English,, commonly known as Letters on the English. Published in 1734, this book marked the true beginning of the French Enlightenment. In Letters on the English, Voltaire gave a largely favorable description of the British political system and the British thinkers John Locke and others. The publication of the book provoked the anger of French authorities, and Voltaire was forced to leave Paris again. This book is a collection of letters on science, featuring twenty-five letters by the literary master on topics such as parliament, government, commerce, the theory of gravity, tragedy and comedy, etc.